Gas range and automatic lighter therefor



July 21, 1936.

2 Sheets-Sheet l Original Filed March 7, 1932 I r J/wm July 21, 1936. F. A. GAUGER GAS RANGE AND AUTOMATIC LIGHTER THEREFOR Original Fi l ed March 7, 1932 Patented July 21, 1936 GAS RANGE AND AUTOMATIC LIGHTER THEREFOR Frank A. Gauger, Milwaukee, Wis, assignor to Geo. D. Roper Corporation, Rockford, 111., a corporation of Illinois I Original application March '1, 1932, Serial No.

597,124. Divided and tlfis application April 14, 1932, Serial No. 605,231

1 Claim. (Cl. 12639) This is a division of my application, Serial No.

597,124, filed March 7, 1932, for Ignition devices.

This invention relates to gas ranges and has particular reference to automatic lighters there- 5 for, and still more particularly, automatic fighters capable of lighting an oven burner at a lower elevation than the pilot light relied upon. I

Objects of this invention are to provide. a novel form of automatic lighter in which an auxiliary 10 pilot burner is provided at the same low elevation with the oven burner and in lighting proximity thereto, the auxiliary pilot being ignited through a flash tube extending upwardly therefrom to a main pilot burner, and in which the 15 auxiliary pilot controls the functioning of the oven burner so that fuel cannot be supplied to the burner unless the auxiliary pilot is lighted. The invention, therefore, permits the automatic lighting of an oven burner from a main pilot,

although the pven burner is located, as in the new types of stoves, at a point spaced laterally 'from the main pilot and in a plane considerably below the main pilot.

In greater detail this invention has for its fur- 25 ther objects the provision of novel means for charging a flash back tube by means producing a body of gas which on entering the tube limits the secondary air admission, and to so construct the flash back tube that provision is made along 30 the length of the tube for secondary air admission.

This invention is suitable for use with any type or shape of flash back tube, but what is particularly noteworthy about it is that it per- 35 mits the use of aflash back tube which has a relatively long vertical portion and a relatively long horizontal portion, and at the same time insures the correct functioning of the flash back tube even under widely varying conditions of fuel Embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view somewhat diagrammatically shown, illustrating the position 45 of the device relative to the other parts on the stove and showing one application of the inven-' tion;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 22 of Fi ure 60 Fig. 3 is a sectional view approximately on ,the

line 3-3 of Figure 1; v

Fig; 4 is a, sectional view through the valve casing, said view con'esponding to a section on the line 4"4 of Fig. 5;

Y Fig. 5' is a view of the valve structure with the cover plate removed and with parts broken away.

and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail view showing a modified form of construction.

These drawings are the sameas the drawings 5 in my parent application, above mentioned, and include a snap action thermostatic valve constituting the subject matter of the invention in my said parent application. It should be distinctly understood, therefore, that the invention claimed 10 in the present application is not limited to use with said thermostatic valve, nor to the system of ignition disclosed. Instead, the present invention deals primarily with those features disclosed herein involving the flash back tube functioning between a burner to be lighted and an ignition device located substantially above and horizontally remote from said burner. This condition is a problem in connection with the comparatively recent trend in design in gas stoves and ranges characterized by so-called low ovens, in which the oven burner is located considerably below the burners making up the cooking top, in some cases the cooking top being substantially on the same level as the top of the oven. 1 In this type of stove it is desired to ignite the low oven burner from an igniting device, such as a constantly burning pilot light located in the region of the cooking top and serving to ignite the cooking top burners. My present invention provides a means for igniting the low oven burner from an ignition device substantially above and remote from the oven burner.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the device has been shown as applied to a gas stove provided with a main pilot I, top burners 2, and an oven burner 3. The oven burner is provided with a projecting portion 4 adjacent the opening 5 through the oven wall 6.

All of the burners and pilots of the stove are supplied from the manifold 1. The oven burner and its associated auxiliary pilot hereinafter described are both supplied through the valve 8 which controls the flow of gas from the manifold 1 to the pipe 9.

The pipe 9 extends to the automatic thermostatically controlled valve indicated generally by the reference character l0, see Figures 1 and 2, and from this valve a. pipe ll leads to the oven burner.

It is to be noted from Fig. 2 that a by-pass pipe I2 is provided and extends from the pipe 9 to the mixing tube l3 of the auxiliary pilot where primary air is entrained with the gas to produce a mixture for a Bunsen flame at It, 20, and 25.

iliary pilot is provided with an extension having an annular threaded portion I'I upon which an adjustable sleeve I 8 is screwed to thereby limit the entrance of secondary air into a flash back tube I9 fitted within the annular extension H, such flash back tube being hereinafter described in greater detail. The casting I4 is provided with a cluster burner immediately below the adjustable sleeve I8, the holes of such burner being indicated by the reference character 20 in Fig. 3. This cluster burner may be of any suitable type, an additional form of cluster burner being shown in Fig. 6 which will be described later.

The casting I4 is provided with an arm 2I, see Fig.2, to which the pin 22 is rigidly secured. This pin carries the thermostatic member 23 and is adapted to be locked in any desired adjusted posi-'- tion by means of the nut 24, see Fig. 3.

It is to be notedfrom Fig. 2 that the burner I5 of the auxiliary pilot is provided with a plurality of openings 25 which cause a plurality of flames to play upon the thermostatic member 23 whenever such auxiliary pilot is lighted and thereby heat the major portion .of this thermostatic member and secure a pronounced and rapid response, causing the thermostatic member to move within an extremely brief period after the lighting 1 or extinguishing of the auxiliary pilot.

The'thermostatic member 23 carries a fitting 29 on its free end which is provided with a pair of bowed spring or friction jaws 21 most clearly shown in Fig. 5. These spring jaws 21 frictionally rip an enlarged portion 28 of a valve controlling .arm 29 to communicate a limited amount of oscillatory movement of the arm, suitable adjustable stops being provided as indicated in Fig. 2, to limit the oscillatory movement.

The automatic valve I0 is carried in any suitable manner as by means of a plate 30 secured at one end to the casting I 4, as may be seen from Fig. 2.

The valve arm 29 is rigidly secured to the rock shaft 3|, see Fig. 5. This rock shaft has a reduced portion which extends through the wall of the casing of the valve and is provided with a ground beveled surface or collar 32 integral therewith and bearing upon a beveled seat formed in the casing of the valve, as very clearly shown in Fig. 5, to thereby maintain a gas tight joint withv out any packing whatsoever. The other end of the shaft 3| is beveled and a follower 33 is spring pressed against such beveled end to maintain a gas tight fit between the surface 32 and the casing.

-An arm 34 is rigidly secured to the rock shafttrally slotted, as indicated at 38, and fits loosely over a reduced portion 39 formed on the stem of the valve 40, the valve 49 cooperating with a fitting 4I provided with a valve seat and having an extension 42 guided by the casing of the valve, as shown in Fig. 4.

The bowed spring 36 is slitted adjacent one end and oppositely bowed loops 43 are formed from the two half strips of the spring produced by this slit, such slit being indicated at 44 in Fig. 5.

When the rock arm 3I is rocked in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 4, the spring 36 will be tensioned and will finally snap suddenly upwardly or, in other words, will suddenly bow upwardly, thereby raising the valve 40 "as viewed in Fig. 4 and opening such valve with a quick motion. A reverse rocking action of the rock shaft 3| will cause the spring to suddenly bow downwardly, as shown in Fig. 4, thereby closing the valve with a snap action.

The slip clutch obtained between the spring jaws 21 carried by the thermostatic member and the portion 28 of the rock arm 29 previously described insures the operation of the valve during the initial motion from either position of the thermostatic member. This slip connection permits the thermostatic member to complete its entire stroke without producing straining of any of the parts, as the jaws 21- simply slip on the mem- -ber 29 to accommodate the additional movement of the thermostatic member.

However, a very pronounced beneficial result is obtained by this construction, for it will be noted that the initial movement of the thermostatic member actuates the valve and consequently a very quick response is obtained, as the thermostatic member does not have to complete its entire stroke in either direction to either open or close the valve.

Further, by combining this construction with that of the snap acting valve an extremely quick and positive response isobtained during the initial portion of the stroke of the thermostatic the additional admission of secondary air. The

admission of secondary air at the charging point of this tube is' regulated by means of the adjustable sleeve I8, and also is limited not only by this sleeve but by the use of the cluster burner immediately below the sleeve. The cluster burner produces a body of mixture substantially conforming to the interior contour of the adjacent portion of the flash back structure.

In other words, the cluster burner, which will be more fully described in connection with Fig. 6, produces a cylindrical body or column of mixture which limits the entrance of secondary air and consequently provides for a reasonable rate of travel of the mixture through the flashback tube I9, thereby allowing the flame which flashes back to be readily propagated at a rate in excess of the upwardly and outwardly traveling rate of the mixture.

It is believed that a consideration of Fig. 6 at this point will materially aid in the understanding of the invention. In this figure the' casting .I4' corresponds to that previously described and constitutes the auxiliary pilot I5 corresponding to-the portion I5 of Fig. 3. However, a cluster burner tip or fitting 46 is inset below the upper level of the auxiliary pilot and is provided with ll which may terminate sufliciently close to the auxiliary pilot face to avoid the necessity of using an adjustable sleeve l8, although it is to be distinctly understood that the adjustable sleeve may or may not be used with either form' of the invention. Also, if desired, an individual fitting corresponding to the fitting 46 may be employed with the-structure as illustrated in Fig. 3.

Returning a moment to Fig. 6, it will be noted that the cluster burner or fitting 46 is located in a plane below the upper face of the auxiliary pilot so that if there is a'pressure wave from any source whatsoever, it cannot snufi out the cluster burner. If desired, an additional aperture 48 may be provided through the casting l4, as shown in Fig. 6, for the admission of secondary air.

In operating the device, the valve 8 is opened and gas passes to the auxiliary pilot. The cluster burner fills the tube is with a charging mixture which may be comparatively rich and which may be diluted to the proper amount by the admission of secondary air along the length of the tube through the apertures 45, see Fig. 3. This mixture is ignited by the main pilot I and the flame flashes back and lights the auxiliary pilot. The thermostatic member 23 heated by the several small flames from the apertures 25 is substantially immediately bowed and snaps the oven valve into open position during the initial portion of the stroke of the thermostatic member. The auxiliary pilot lights the oven burner and thus an automatic operation is secured with absolute protection against the supplying of the oven burner with gas if the auxiliary pilot should fail I for'any reason whatsoever.

It will be seen that this invention enables an oven burner which is located at a point remote from and in a plane belowv that of the main pilot to be lighted from the main pilot with the utmost ease and certainty and in an extremely brief interval of time.

Further, it will be seen that an automatic valve has been provided which is thermostatically operated to completely open or completely close during the initial operation of the stroke of the thermostatic member.-

It will be seen further that the device is extremely simple, has relatively few parts, and that it is substantially fool proof in its operation and requires no thought on the part of the operator.

I claim:-

The combination in a gas stove, having a cooking top, and an oven alongside but below the cooking top, of a main pilot on the cooking top, a sec-- ond pilot located at a point remote from said main pilot and in the lower planeof the oven below said main pilot, a flash back tube extending from adjacent said second pilot, upwardly and then laterally to a point adjacent said main pilot, means for charging said tube with a mixture of fuel and primary air, and adjustable means for varying the admission of secondaryair to said tube at a point adjacent the charging point of said tube.

FRANK A. GAUGER. 

